David Spade wanted his date to Sean Penn's 2012 Haiti Benefit to think he was flush with cash, so he was prepared to spend big—or so he thought—in the silent auction.
Only, as the 49-year-old actor explained on Chelsea Lately Tuesday, Jan. 21, his fellow bidders placed a price on Paul McCartney tickets that was admittedly a bit too high for his budget!
"I had like $30,000 saved up to give to this charity," he told Chelsea Handler. "So I go to this chick, 'Babe, babe, there's gonna be a live auction. [I'm] baller material and gonna like go nuts, so just strap in. I might go up to 30K but keep it down."
The Grown Ups 2 star joked that his date "was like 'yawn,'" but he continued his efforts. "They go, 'Paul McCartney tickets' and I said, 'Here we go.'" Only, to David's surprise, the tickets started at $50,000—$20,000 more than he'd intended to shell out in the end of the bidding.
The numbers kept increasing, and David kept (hesitantly) matching the highest bidder. "She knew I wasn't the real deal," he said of his date. "I was trying to think like where Haiti is—I don't even know what's going on."
With a little encouragement from Sean himself "and some peer pressure," David bid all the way up to $100,000. "The grossest part was, I go to my date, 'Don't move a f--king muscle,'" he said.
Only the auctioneer bumped the cost from $100K, to $110, and even up to $125K—despite David being the only bidder left! "I'm like what just happened," he said. "No one said anything. I know auction rules. Then I see like [Leonardo] DiCaprio craning to see who's the cheapskate!"
Ultimately, though, David shelled out the $125,000. "It's so hilarious, though," he said, "because Paul McCartney didn't even go on tour this year! So I didn't even get anything!"
But, as he pointed out, "it all went to Haiti," which is really what the whole night was about!